One story that I heard this year from my BJJ coach Lloyd Irvin at this year’s info-summit was about the “magic room” that people are always looking for. Lloyd tells the story of how he attended an internet marketing seminar when he was first starting out and how people reacted to his success the next year at the same seminar (its an annual event). Other people who had been at the same first seminar would come up to him and ask him about where he had learned all the techniques that he had used to develop such successful businesses. After all, they had attended the same seminar but had not had the same success so the only logical explanation had to be that he had supposedly been brought to a super secret seminar room where he had learned the “real” techniques that the other individuals were not privy too. Obviously, this was not true and the difference lay in the IMPLEMENTATION of the techniques but selling “knowledge” always works better than selling “hard work”.
This is amazingly like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. People are always looking for the technique or position that will totally change their game. I remember when the hot thing was Spider Guard and how that it would change BJJ forever and your sweep game had to include Spider Guard. Then the shift went to Half Guard. Marcelo Garcia’s shocking debut performance at ADCC led everyone to an X-Guard craze. Then Eddie Bravo got onto the UFC and everyone was claiming Rubber Guard.
This Still Works
The funny thing about all these “revolutionary” changes is this – they do not necessarily change “what works”. Roger Gracie submits people with the classic mounted cross-choke that every BJJ student learns in their first class. Marcelo Garcia still sweeps people with the X-Guard. Go to any local tournament and you will see as many victories with the classic armbar as you do with these newer techniques. This is not to say that these new techniques do not work, just that they are new solutions or new tools in solving the same old problem.
This Works Too!
For most individuals, the factor that most hinders them is not an actual lack of knowledge but rather a lack of properly applying that knowledge. That’s why the actual “magic room” that people are looking for is the training room that they have been in this whole time.
